[UK]‘I want to educate and inform people and stop this massive waste of life‘A former Padbury man has recently celebrated her first ‘birthday’ as a woman.Until four years ago, Delia Johnston, aged 55, who now lives in Milton Keynes, was businessman and technology specialist David Johnston.Now, as Delia, she runs a Buckingham-based website dedicated to helping transexuals with all aspects of their transition. (Photo)

[UK]Wrexham FC's hopeful owner is transexual ex-jailbirdTHE woman hoping to take over Wrexham Football Club has opened up on the past porn shame that saw her jailed.Transsexual Stephanie Booth said being sent to prison over selling adult movies made her a multi-millionaire businesswoman with a conscience.And she remains defiant over the films, saying her time in the slammer 12 years ago was an injustice based on outdated attitudes to sex. (Photo)

[Zimbabwe]Cross-dresser Samukeliso Sithole says he is not giving upSamukeliso Sithole, who represented Zimbabwe as a female athlete before he was unmasked and jailed has made stunning claims that he is not the cross dresser that did time at Hwahwa Maximum Security Prison in 2005.The athlete has resurfaced at a community sports club in Sizinda, Bulawayo where he is a keen netballer and boxer.

[India]`Others' column left unfilled by many transgerndersThe transgender population in Hyderabad is estimated to be a little over 800. But that might not reflect in the latest Census, which is likely to put the total figure at a meagre 100 (approx). For, the new `others' column (in the gender section) introduced in the Census this year for the benefit of transgenders, is being ignored owing to family and peer pressure apart from `identity' issues, claim transgenders in the city.

[India]Bringing India’s transgenders into the mainstreamFor the last decade or more, I’ve been working with Mona Ahmed, a hijra, on writing her life. Mona lives in a large compound called Mehendiyan — named after the mehendi trees that once dotted its gardens — close to the walls of the old city of Delhi. Here, local lore is still rife with the stories of a legendary hijra couple, Sona and Chaman, whose lives were split, like those of millions of others, at Partition. Tall, handsome and striking to look at (Sona died some years ago but Chaman is still around, ninety years old, stunningly beautiful), Sona and Chaman were forced to think of nationalities at Partition, and while Sona left for Pakistan, Chaman stayed on in India.

[New Zealand]No retrial for men who killed transsexualTwo men who killed a frail Upper Hutt transsexual will not be retried for murder.David Shaun Galloway, 20, and Phillip Christopher Sanders, 42, were convicted of manslaughter and sentenced in the High Court at Wellington last December to lengthy prison terms.Their trial had lasted nearly a month.

[USA]Oprah Winfrey's OWN 'Our America' Focuses On Transgender IssuesInvestigative journalist Lisa Ling's documentary series Our America is winning praise for a recent episode focusing on transgender people.Our America premiered on February 16 on Oprah Winfrey's newly-minted cabler OWN.According to Ling, the series is “all about what it means to be an American.”

[USA] [Commentary]Injustice at Every Turn -- Part VIII: Police and IncarcerationPrevious "turns" have covered the basic data about who transpeople living in America are in Who we are -- by the numbers, Part I: Education, Part II: Employment, Part III: Health Care, Part IV: Family, Part V: Housing. Part VI: Public Accommodation and Part VII: Identity Documents. This is the last in the series.

[AK, USA]Alaska hate-crime expansion criticized by groupsTwo advocacy groups on Friday criticized a proposed expansion of hate crime prosecutions, saying it was too broad and could be used to criminalize certain forms of speech.The measure by Alaska Sen. Bettye Davis, D-Anchorage, would expand hate crime prosecutions to include crimes committed due to a victim's sexual orientation or gender identity. It has passed out of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

[ME, USA]Bill would overturn ruling on transgender use of bathroomsRep. Kenneth Fredette, R-Newport, knows he’s about to step into an ideological hornet’s nest. He’s been there before.Fredette, a former member of the Maine Human Rights Commission who was elected for the House of Representatives in November, seeks to overturn a 2010 commission decision regarding transgender students in public schools. In September the commission opted to work with the Department of Education after the gubernatorial election to develop guidelines for how to accommodate transgender students’ use of bathroom and locker room facilities. That process has yet to unfold.